World Premiere of The Twenty-Seventh Man, With Ron Rifkin and Chip Zien, Opens Off-Broadway Nov. 18

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18 Nov 2012

Ron Rifkin and Noah Robbins

Photo by Joan Marcus

The Twenty-Seventh Man, the world-premiere stage production adapted from author Nathan Englander's short story of the same title, officially opens Off-Broadway Nov. 18 at the Public Theater.

The Twenty-Seventh Man began previews Nov. 8 and willrun through Dec. 9, under the direction of Barry Edelstein. As previously reported, Edelstein is departing the Public to take over as the new artistic director of San Diego's Old Globe Theatre.

Englander ("What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank") has adapted the stage production from his short story.

"In a Soviet prison in 1952, Stalin's secret police have rounded up twenty-six writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia," according to the Public. "As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears: Pinchas Pelovits, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wrestle with the mysteries of party loyalty and politics, culture and identity, and what it means to write in troubled times. When they discover why the twenty-seventh man is among them, the writers come to realize that even in the face of tyranny, stories still have the power to transcend."

The production has scenic design by Michael McGarty, costume design by Katherine Roth, lighting design by Russell H. Champa and sound design by Darron L West.

For tickets phone (212) 967-7555 or visit PublicTheater. The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.